Synopsis:

Digital transformation is the predominant trend impacting today’s global business. Broadly speaking, digital transformation speaks to the changes produced by the application of digital technology to society at large—just walk down a street or go into a coffee shop and look at the eyes focused on the ubiquitous smartphone.

But for business, digital transformation goes beyond the tactical application of technology—something that has been happening in enterprises for years—to the strategic incorporation of digital technology as the very basis for competition. It is transforming business models by speeding innovation and making ongoing practical gains in operational efficiencies, product design, development and delivery, and customer relationships. It’s changing the way companies think about coming to market.

In this age of digital transformation, the old methods of service simply don’t apply anymore. World-class organisations must now anticipate service needs before they manifest as problems by taking a proactive approach to service delivery. To be sure, the technologies driving the digital transformation are both ratcheting up the pressure on service while providing new opportunities. Those companies looking to what’s next as service continues to evolve will benefit greatly as the digital transformation continues.

Overview

The white paper focusses on three core elements of digital transformation in a field service context:

Impact of Digital Transformation on Field Service

For service providers, the digital transformation will mean increasing competitive pressure in terms of time to response. At IFS, we believe there will be a rapid escalation in response time competition across the service provider industry. Response times are shortening because of customer expectations, technology capabilities, and competitive pressure .

Because of the disruptive nature of technologies such as IoT, the change will not be incremental. I

f your current response time is a week, it’s not enough to reduce it to six days. It will have to be a more dramatic reduction, and those that move first will have an advantage. Expectations are changing from days to hours or minutes, and those that are left behind will lose business.

Supporting the Digital Transformation in Service

A company pursuing digital transformation must have tools that allow executives and managers to review and orchestrate processes that align with their business strategy to ensure process execution delivers that strategy.

A company pursuing digital transformation must have tools that allow executives and managers to review and orchestrate processes that align with their business strategy

This means bringing data to the desktop, visually, to provide decision makers a complete understanding of which functions deliver real customer value, which are less effective, and which waste both time and resources in terms of meeting organisational goals. Ultimately, this enables businesses to accelerate the realisation of their business strategy—in this case, by moving to become a digitally transformed business—by making better decisions, faster.

This can happen by assessing real-time business performance in the context of how it affects key business processes and goals, giving managers real-time operational intelligence and actionable controls to solve issues before they become problems. The solution is about strategy acceleration and execution.

What’s next?

A recent report on the state of digital transformation had some interesting results: 88 percent of companies surveyed said they were undergoing digital transformation efforts, but only a quarter had an understanding of what it is.

The challenge creating this gap, according to Forbes, was not investment in technology but rather the realignment of business models to reflect the transformation being sought. This underscores the point made by IDC: digital transformation is not just a technology trend, but rather a core business approach at the center of enterprise strategies across all industry segments and markets.

Kris Oldland has been working in Business to Business Publishing for almost a decade. As a journalist he has covered a diverse range of industries from Fire Juggling through to Terrorism Insurance. Prior to this he was a Quality Services Manager with a globally recognised hospitality brand. An intimate understanding of what is important when it comes to Service and a passion for emerging technology means that in Field Service he has found an industry that excites him everyday.

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